WICHITA, Kan. – Juniors Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet shared team MVP honors, and Wichita State put the final wraps on a successful 2014-15 men's basketball season, Thursday night at Koch Arena, with its annual end of the year celebration.
Baker and VanVleet are the first co-winners of the Wichita Eagle Most Valuable Player Award since 1980 when Shocker Hall of Famers Cliff Levingston and Antoine Carr split the honor.
Both players earned First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors this year. Baker averaged a team-high 14.7 points and led the MVC with 80 three-pointers. VanVleet put up 13.6 points per contest and posted a conference-best 5.2 assists-per-game. His 3.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked seventh nationally.
Outgoing seniors Tekele Cotton and Darius Carter were honored one last time and were given an opportunity to address the crowd.
Cotton was given the Ralph Miller Captain's Award and also earned the Shocker Radio Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award for the third-consecutive year, joining Jamar Howard as the only Shockers to win it three or more times.
Carter was honored with the Xavier McDaniel Rebounding Award after snagging a team-high 189 boards.
VanVleet took home the KAKE-TV/Shelley Cox Leadership Award, given to the athlete who shines in the classroom. He also won the Warren Armstrong Jabaldi Assist Award after dishing out a team-high 183 this season.
Baker was given the Shafer Dart Most Inspirational Player trophy, and Zach Brown was honored with the Cleo Littleton Most Improved Player Award.
Baker, VanVleet and Cotton received commemorative 1,000-Point Club basketballs. All three Shockers hit the milestone over a span of six weeks late in the season and are the first trio of WSU players to reach 1,000 in the same year.
WSU (30-5, 17-1 MVC) won the conference regular season title for the second straight year and made its fourth-consecutive NCAA appearance. Wins over Indiana and Kansas helped propel the seventh-seeded Shockers to the Sweet 16.
Award Winners:
Wichita Eagle Most Valuable Player Award: Ron Baker & Fred VanVleet
Shelley Cox/KAKE-TV Leadership Award: Fred VanVleet
Ralph Miller Captain's Award: Tekele Cotton
Shocker Radio Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Tekele Cotton
Warren Armstrong Jabaldi Assists Award: Fred VanVleet
Cleo Littleton Most Improved Player Award: Zach Brown
Shafer Dart Most Inspirational Player Award: Ron Baker
Xavier McDaniel Rebounding Award: Darius Carter
